What break? IndyCar teams pick up in-season testing this week - MotorSportsTalk

Six consecutive weekends of on-track activity are in the books for Verizon IndyCar Series teams, but even though the next event isn’t coming until the Shell/Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston doubleheader on June 27-29, that doesn’t mean they’ll spend all their down time on the couch.

In fact, a lot of teams are using the schedule gap to focus on in-season test work at a variety of tracks – primarily ovals – that the series will visit later this summer.

Iowa Speedway, the Milwaukee Mile, and Pocono Raceway, along with the road course at Sebring International Raceway in Florida, will host test sessions for teams over the next week and change according to the series.

Tomorrow, Iowa hosts Texas winner Ed Carpenter along with the entirety of both Team Penske (Will Power, Helio Castroneves, and Juan Pablo Montoya) and Chip Ganassi Racing (Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, and Charlie Kimball). For those in the region, the test will be open to the public with a viewing area above Turn 3 of the 7/8-mile bullring.

Then on Wednesday, a two-day session at the Milwaukee Mile will begin.

Wednesday has the Chevrolet-powered Team Penske joining a gaggle of Honda-powered squads including Andretti Autosport (Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Carlos Munoz), A.J. Foyt Racing (Takuma Sato), Dale Coyne Racing (Carlos Huertas and Justin Wilson), Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (Josef Newgarden), Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (Mikhail Aleshin) and Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports (Simon Pagenaud).

The Wednesday testing is open to the public, and a food truck will be available for fans at lunch time behind the Mile’s grandstand. Thursday will see a reduced level of attendance with Carpenter and the Ganassi camp taking to the flat West Allis oval. Then on Friday, Iowa holds another test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan (Graham Rahal) joining the Andretti, SFHR and Schmidt teams.

Next Tuesday (June 17), Pocono has Team Penske and Dale Coyne Racing. After that, the Ganassi and Schmidt teams will set up shop for a two-day run at Sebring on June 18-19.

Pocono will also host a second test on June 19. KV Racing Technology (Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Saavedra) is expected to run with the Andretti, Carpenter and Rahal teams.

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It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗪𝗔𝗦. 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖.@EagleRaceway went above and beyond in their return to the main stage with the High Limit Sprint Car Series tonight!

pic.twitter.com/H3XKQEOpg6

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 7, 2023

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

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